CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The American Plan and the 2026 Elections

Image by Element5 Digital.

Woody Guthrie proudly sang “This land is your land, this land is my land / From California to the New York island,” but, in fact, the conversion of vast public resources and wealth to private property is one of the defining dynamics of American history. The political economist Thorstein Veblen called this process “The American Plan:” the conversion of public resources into private hands as fast as possible.

It started with the “legal seizure” of native lands and resources. Then in the last century the federal government began giving away our information highways. New technology, same result. Far from promoting the growth of democracy, the American Plan has consolidated wealth and power in the hands of a few. Not surprisingly, the rich regularly convert their private wealth into political power by buying (or renting) politicians and manipulating public opinion, a process the SCOTUS has the gall to call “free speech.” Thanks to Roberts court gutting of the last vestiges of limits on campaign spending and the concentration of media in the hands of a few billionaires, the buying of voters’ minds is on steroids during the 2026 election.

In the past, a local newspaper like the Manchester Daily Union or later newspaper chains like Hearst publications tried to shape political events, but their influence was restrained by time and geography. Now........

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